1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical diagnostic imaging system provided with a plurality of ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatuses, an operation device for remotely operating the diagnostic apparatuses, and the like, an information processing method for the medical diagnostic imaging system, an ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus, and an operation device. In particular, the invention relates to a medical diagnostic imaging system provided with an operation device configured to be able to transfer user information including work flow data which is incorporated in a predetermined ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus to another ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus, an information processing method for the medical diagnostic imaging system, an ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus, and an operation device.
2. Description of the Related Art
For ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatuses of recent years, various examination methods have been proposed such as Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) for visualizing the movement of a tissue of a subject and 3D Tissue Imaging for three-dimensionally displaying the tissue of the subject.
However, in order to execute these examination methods, an extremely large number of switch operations (by using a key board, a touch panel, a track ball, a mouse, etc.) are required. An operator (user) such as a doctor or a technician conducts a diagnosis by making full use of the above-mentioned examination methods, clinical applications, and measurement functions thereof. Therefore, it is necessary for the user such as the doctor or the technician to learn an operation method of the ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus for the above-mentioned individual examination methods and the like.
For this reason, the operation method of the ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus becomes complicated and diversified. In a case where the diagnostic apparatus is actually operated, a particularly high level of techniques and experiences is required. For this reason, variations in operation techniques and experience are common, and there is a possibility of degrading the reliability of examination results.
In addition, along with the spread of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses, the number of inexperienced technicians tends to be increased. For this reason, there is a demand of an ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus whose operation method can be quickly learnt and which can be easily operated.
In view of the above, an ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus provided with a work flow system for guiding an operation method of the ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus has been recently proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-137237).
Also, an ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus provided with an operation device for remotely operating the ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus on user's hands has been proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-153903).
Execution procedures of the above-mentioned work flow system are varied depending on the users such as the doctors and the examination technicians, and such a configuration is adopted that the work flow system can be executed by work flow data which is customized conforming to the skill and technique of the respective users. For this reason, the examination efficiency is satisfactory and the lack of an examination can also be prevented.
While using the individually customized work flow, the users also customize and use user registration data (examiner registration data) in parallel such as a key arrangement of an operation panel of the ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus, a position and a height of the operation panel, a monitor luminance, an image quality condition, a setting of body marks, settings and the like of various measurement methods, and default setting values thereof.
The registration data is also user information similar to the work flow, and it is necessary to safely manage the registration data as well as diagnosis data of a patient (subject) who has been screened (diagnosed) by the user (examiner).
However, in such a conventional ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus, the user information such as the work flow data is customized for each ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus. In a use site such as a hospital provided with a plurality of the above-mentioned ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatuses, even though the user individually customizes the user information such as the work flow data, if the user cannot use the usually used accustomed ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus due to any cause, the user needs to use a different ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus which is customized by another user. Therefore, there is a problem of decreasing the throughput of the examination service.
Also, in this case, it is also conceivable to use a method of temporarily moving the customized user information such as the work flow data from the ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus to a removable medium such as an MO or a CD and further moving the customized user information from this removable medium to the different ultrasonic imaging diagnostic apparatus which will be used, but the efficiency is extremely low.